Rail joint



RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED JuLY22, 1921.

Patented Apr 25,1922.

v '/Wmron l 5 @Mz/Z sr v 7.2! naming A further vobject otmy invention-is to "Nirf srra EN? E l JOHN B. Mimainnor WILMINGTQN, inninos.

RAIL JOINT.

Application ledJuly 22, 1921. Serial No, 486,768. i I

To 'all w imm t may concern Y Be it known that I, JOHN B. MURRAY, a

. citizen of the United States, and a resident useful Improvement in Rail J oints,`of whichv of Wilmington, in the county of Will and State of Illinois, have invented anew and the `following is afull, clear, and lexact dei j scri tion.

l\ y invention relates to improvements iny rail joints, and itconsists inthe combinations, constructions andr arrangementsherein described and claimed:

An object of my invention is to provide a -device embodying means for connecting adjacent ends of rails and for resisting thestressplaced o-nfthe rails by the weight of rolling stockfpassing thereover so that sag# ging of thev railsl atthe joint is prevented.

" A further object` of my invention is to provide a device of the character described for-connecting railsat theirV adjacent ends so that the necessity for providing the usual fish platesfis obviated.y

A further object of my invention is to Vprovide a rail joint in which the device pro#vr vided for connecting the adjacent ends of rail joints is simplein construction i'n that, `itcomprises only two identical members and ythepineans for securing the members to one anotherand to the rails."

y provide a device of the character described that is `,thoroughly effective for the purpose intended, capable of being manufactured cheaply, and practical commercially.

jA, furthervobject of my invention is to vprovidefa device of the character described thatis adapted for use with'ordinary rails.

A further object of myinvention is -toH securely holding adjacent end portions of ad; A

jacent vrails so that lateral movement of each` rail. at .the joint relative to the'other rail.v

. is revented.

` pointed out in the appended claims.

provide a rail joint'embodying' means for therobjects and advantages will appear in theffollowing speciication, and the novel features of the invention will be particularl lrMy invention is illustrated in the accompanyiiig drawings, forming part of this ap-l plication, in which- I Fig. 1 isr aside elevation of an embodiment of the invention( Figt 2 is a plan view of same,

Specification of Letters Patent.

VKlower surfaces of 1 th material, aslfor instance steehfthathassuflicient inherentstrength to v'vithstand `the stressesto-which they are subjected in service'. The membersA and' BareQprecisely identical infesseiitial kresI'Jects and I shall ytherefore conine my description tof'the member A, it beingiinderstood thatflike parts 'are 'found in the-:member vB and that the same reference numerals have been used `for like parts ,thrloughout.` The member A con'sists of Aa `,body portion lffhavingfa Vvbase 2 extending laterally thereof alongL its bottom edgeand]alsojhaving a "pair of parallelspaced apart lateral vextensions 8 and@ adapted toV st'raddle' ytheweb Sfof a rail Gat an end ofthe latter when the base 2 underlies fand'fsupportsj the -bottom `flangek .47 of the rail. The laterall eirtensiens 3 and ,4 replace the usual fish plates andare widenedlaterally to provide,v bases V 8 and 9, respectively, thereby having Atheir undcr Y surfaces inclined to conform with the underlying upper surfaces'of the bottom flanges of therail Y6 ,sov thatthe extensions 3 land l Contact evenly along l their entireV length with the 'underlying Is uritacesogf the lower iiangeforl' base of tlie {i.ail.A The .lateral vextensions 3 and 4, reslpectively,.are formed with taperingstrengthening ribs or webs l10 and VK11, `each havingan uppersur'face flush .lwith the upper` surface ofthe ,eXtenj head or Literaire when the bases 8 r and 9'rest'npon the lower langesoflthe rail andstraddlethe `web 5 l of the rail,

The body portion-1 i ias' j@ ruaaeiy a. ducedfportion or vertical l'extension 13 that will be interposed insubstantial alinement with the head portionof-the rail lso that ythe upper edge thereoflis iiushwith' the upper surface,v of. the rail head and theend walls Q thereof, which are inclined as shown in Fig.

3 [corresponding sides of the rail head. The

are likewise substantially jflush kwith the "extension i13 hasits sidewalls 14 and inclined from their junction with the body portion 1 to the upper end thereof and the wall 16 of the body portion 1 which constitutes the face thereof is inclined from its lower end to the horizontal line indicated at m, which is the line marking' the junction of the lbody portion 1 and the extension 18 and lies in the horizontal plane of.

the lower surface of the headof the rail 6.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. rlhe rails 6 and 17 joined by my device may be connectedbetween tie-s 18 as in Fig. 1 or when the ends thereof yrest upon a tie as shown in Fig. 2. The members A and B7 each comprising the parts which have been described and which are formed integrally with one another, are arranged relative to the ends of the rails 6 and 17 so that the extensions 3 and 1 of the member A straddle the web of the rail 6 which rests at its end on the base'plate 2 and the member B is placed in a like position with respect to vthe rail 17. The rails 6 and 17 are then alined with the ends thereof positioned as shown in Fig. 1. The faces 16 of ythe body portions of the connectors willcorttact along the line-m. are then clamped together by means of relatively large bolts 18 projected through registering openings 19 in the body portions 1, and having nuts 2O screwed thereon.

i VThe extensions 3 and 1 which serve as fish I pivot along the line :if: so that the exten Y sions 13 are moved togetherv and the stress Y ton occasioned by the weight of the load is im-vr parted to the extensions 3 and 4, on account of the position Yof the latter with respect to the heads and bottom flanges of the rails.

VThe stress will therefore be resisted by theV members A and B as'units and consequently the movement of the rail'ends downwardly under stressis reduced to a minimum.

It will be noted that the bolt 21' serves `primarily as a vmeans for preventing the `railV from slipping out from between the .members 3l and 1.- The bolt is not drawn Y down tight, asin the case ofordinary fish plates, hence there is no tendency forthe Abol-tto elongate. Since there is no stress on the boltythe life 0f the latter is prolonged. The nuts 20 are tightened to adjust the The body portions positions of the body portion 1 of the members A and B with respect to one another.

rihe line of contact of the adjacent faces of the body portions is along the line indicated at a.

iVhen the body portions 1, contacting at w, are drawn together by tightening the nuts on the bolts7 the resulting stress tends to swing the remote ends of the members and B downwardly. The stress7 being resisted, is partly transmitted to the adjacent ends of A and B, tending upwardly immediately under the rail head' at their terminals. The stress is thus equally divided, tending upwardly at the adjacent yends of the members A. and'B and downwardly at the remote ends of the members A and B. lt will thus be observed that there is always a tight joint between the rail ends since the body portions 1 will always contact'one another along the line m. 'The deviceV is Vrelatively simple in construction and cani be manufactured cheaply.

l. claim:

1. A rail joint comprising a pair of connectors each having a body portion adapted to abut the end of arail and having extensions arranged to. straddle the web of the rail and to be secured thereto, and means for securing the body portions kof thevpair of connectors to one another. n

2. rThe combination with adjacent rail ends of a pair of connectors arranged'with their body'portions vcontiguous to and secured to oneanother to each abut aL rail end, each of said body portions being formed with spaced apart' integral extensions arranged to straddle'the web of th'e'contiguous rail and to bear against the under surface of the rail head and theupperysurface of the lower flange of theV rail at opposite sides of the web, and means for securing the extensions to the interposed webs. Y f y 3. Thecombination with adjacent rail ends of a pair of connectors' arranged with their body portions contiguousto and' secured to one another to each abut a railV end, each ofv said bodylportions being formed with spaced apart" parallel integral extensions arranged' to 'stradjdle the web'of the con tiguous rail end to' bear againsttlheundier surface of the railhead Vand the 'upper surface of the `lower flangeof the rail at vopposite sides of the web and with an integral Vbase underlying the bottom flangeA of the rail for supporting the rail kend, and meansrfor se-f curing each pair of the lirstgnamedexten-V sions to the'interposed web.

1. rlhev combinationV with 'adjacent rail ends of a pair of connectorsarranged with their body portions contiguous to and'secured to one another to' each abuta rail end, each of said body portions being formed with spacedv apart parallel integral extensions arranged' to straddle the web of the 130 gral base underlying the bottom flange of thev rail f or supporting the rail end, means for vsecuring each pair of the rst named eXtensions to the interposed Web, said body portions being formed with the contiguous Walls thereof inclined to contact With one another along a horizontal line adjacent to the upper edges thereof, said upper edges 'being practically alined with the 4plane of the under surfaces of the rail heads, andy each of the body portions being provided 15 with an integral extension having its upper Wall practically Hush Withthe upper Walls n.

of the rails, With end Walls practically alined with the side Walls of the rail heads, .and

With side Walls inclined toward the upper 20 end thereof so that the body portions may move relatively under stress about the' line of contact with one another. e

JOHN B. MURRAY. 

